Which statement about neuroplasticity is correct?

• A. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's fixed wiring that cannot change with experience.
• B. Neuroplasticity only occurs during infancy.
• C. The brain's capacity to reorganize neural connections in response to experience, with peak plasticity during adolescence.
• D. Neuroplasticity is the brain's immune response.

Answer: (C)

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change its structure and function in response to experience. This isn’t a one-time fix; neural connections are continually strengthened or weakened as we learn and as we recover from injuries. During adolescence, the brain undergoes substantial remodeling—synaptic pruning, myelination, and the strengthening of frequently used pathways—creating a period when experience can reshape how we think and behave more readily. So the statement that captures this idea is that the brain can reorganize its neural connections in response to experience, with peak plasticity during adolescence. The other ideas—that plasticity is fixed wiring, that it only happens in infancy, or that it’s an immune response—don’t fit with how neural networks actually adapt over time.